Te Pao
Population: 4,800 (95% Human, 5% Spirit Folk) Government: Autocracy Religions: The Celestial Bureaucracy Imports: Manual labor Exports: Silk, Porcelain pottery, wheat, grain, meat Alignment: Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral, Neutral, Neutral Good Life and Society Like other cities in the Shou Empire, Te Pao is governed by the Lord-Mayor. The current Lord-Mayor is Wu Jiang Xi. Like most other residents of the city, Wu Jiang Xi is considered elderly by the greater majority of citizens of the Empire. Like the other residents of the city, he is also considerably laid back, certainly more so than other government administrators and politicians at his level of power and position. The governess of the Ai’lung Provence, Lei Shu Wen, governs from the city, and finds the Lord-Mayer’s lack of enthusiasm unsettling. Te Pao can be best described as a sleepy farming village. When the city was the capital of the Shou Empire, like Sheng Long is today, is was a hotbed of activity. When the Imperial Throne left the city, the city remained the home of many lesser nobles, who were not instrumental in the court of the Emperor, and as a result, retained a great deal of it’s status. Since the “Great Appropriation”, when a great deal of land was sized by the Emperor from residents of all walks of life, and converted into farmland, the city has consistently grown smaller and smaller. The city is home to nearly five thousand people. The average age for the residents of Te Pao is 45. Most are farmers, working on the many farms in the city, most of which yield wheat, grain, cotton, turnips, and cabbage. Various farms dedicated to raising livestock, and even silkworms exist as well. Te Pao is also known for its porcelain, which is considered the best in the Empire. Major Organizations Major Geographical Features Te Pao lies almost at the center of the Shou Empire, a fact that is entire coincidental, being as that the Shou who came to Okarth to conquer the region did not have access to maps of the entire subcontinent. The presence of the Takaiyosho Mountains to the east protect the city from the cyclones that annually pass over the Empire and hit Kai Qing, and sometimes even Feng Loui. Te Pao straddles the area in which the Red Plains mesh with the Shou heartland, in the Ai’lung Province. The winters in Te Pao are normally fairly mild, while the summers are sometimes excessively hot. Because of it’s agrarian economy, however the residents of Te Pao- and indeed, the entire Shou Empire, rely on the rays of the sun to grow their many crops. Because it was formerly the seat of the Imperial Throne, the city was built according to the sacred ley line geometry prescribed by the Emperor’s Wu Jen and Shugenja. The former Palace of the Shou occupies the center of the city, with four major thoroughfares branching out in each of the four cardinal directions. Minor avenues, along with buildings built along their side used to exist, but since the Great Appropriation, most were knocked over, or destroyed, to make room for farmland. As a result, the city is divided into four districts- the Tiger district is located northeast of the palace, the Dragon district is located southeast of the palace, the Ox district is located southwest of the palace, and the Ram district is located northwest of the palace. Important Sites Former Palace of the Emperor Prosperity Spring Regional History The city of Te Pao reaches back to the beginning of the Shou Empire. In –2,000, when the Shou people came from Jadespace to Okarth, via magical portals, they appeared in roughly where Te Pao is located today. After setting situated, their leader, Emperor Kang I names the site ‘Te Pao’, and goes about turning the temporary camp of Shou into a permanent city. By –1,994, Emperor Kang I succeeded in his goal, with the construction of the Palace of the Emperor completed. For nearly five hundred years, Te Pao was a booming, bustling city, with court officials and other nobles, or important individuals constantly coming and going. When the site of the Imperial Throne was moved to the newly anointed capital city of Sheng Long, the effects hit Te Pao quickly, and very hard. When the wealthy began leaving, the city was swallowed by a sudden economic depression. This depression further hurt both Te Pao’s economy and status within the Empire. In –1,399, the Emperor would enact a radical policy that would pull the city from its economic lull. In a decree known as the “Great Appropriation”, massive tracts of privately owned land was seized from landowners by the Emperor. Numerous public areas were also altered, as to fit in with the plan the Emperor had. Farms of various sizes, growing various crops were established, solving two problems at once- the city would have a stable source of income, and the food crisis that had gripped most of the nation two years earlier would be solved and prevented from happening ever again. Now a major agrarian center, Te Pao would lose nearly all of the political and cultural prestige it once had. Most of the few affluent citizens of the city who remained behind left, after having their lands sized and converted into farmland. Peasants from across the nation would flock to the city, hoping to gain a track of land to call their own, where they could find a steady living, and, at the same time, contribute to the well-being and strength of the empire. In the year 1,143, the city would be rocked by something of an embarrassing scandal. Mukrow Hai Jian, the younger brother of the Lord-Mayor at the time, at some point in his career of public service, became entangled in criminal elements. As a means to pay back some of his fellow criminals, he began a campaign of arson, setting fire to the farms of various residents, killing them in the process and seizing the land, which was then given to his criminal associates, either as payments for past services rendered, or as gifts for future services. A rogue Samurai, Kazuhito Ichii, extracted revenge for his farm being razed, and his family being killed, and informed the Lord-Mayor, Jun Hai Jian, of the misdeeds his brother had been up to. Citing the dishonor done to his family name, Lord-Mayor Jun Jai Jian resigned, and the current Lord-Mayor, Wu Jiang Xi, was installed.